Moscow. Amid the Ukrainian War, a new scam has surfaced in Russia. CNN reports that several cases have surfaced where women are hastily marrying soldiers going to war and then pocketing government compensation after their deaths. In recent months, several such cases have surfaced in Russia, where soldiers have married just before going to the front or before dying in the hospital.
This entire scam involves not just women and young women, but also accusations of complicity from the hospital to the military. The most high-profile case involves a nurse working at a military hospital who is accused of marrying five injured soldiers undergoing treatment at different times. She wanted to receive compensation for the soldiers after their deaths.
After her father’s death, the daughter discovered that the marriage had taken place two days earlier.
Maria, a 37-year-old resident of St. Petersburg, told CNN that when her 59-year-old father, Yuri, died in the Ukrainian war, she learned from military officials that he had secretly married an unknown woman 22 years younger than him just two days before leaving for the front. Because of this fake marriage, the unknown woman received all the government compensation (death payout). Maria alleges that her father was defrauded.
Russia provides 6.2 million rupees in aid upon the death of a soldier.
In Russia, the family of a soldier killed in war receives a lump sum of at least 5 million rubles (approximately 6.2 million Indian rupees) from the government. This amount can be even higher if various other payments and insurance are added. Lured by this very lure, women lure lonely, elderly, or frail soldiers into marriage.
Marriage rules eased after the war began.
After the Ukrainian war began in 2022, Russia eased marriage rules for military recruits. Normally, in Russia, one has to wait a certain period after applying for marriage, but during the war, this process was relaxed. New soldiers could marry immediately after enlistment. The government believed this would provide soldiers with the support of their families.